Chapter 161

live or die

Half a month later, at midnight, Jingtai trembled in the imperial study, and Rinka's battle report was placed on the bookcase

Uncontrollable trembling, anger, fear, or remorse? No, Jingtai just felt cold, cold to death.

The insect hurriedly placed more charcoal basins in the imperial study, and warmed the emperor's fur, but it was useless, Jingtai's cold came from his heart, and at this moment, even if he was in the fire, he couldn't dispel the cold in his bones.

Wen Jinqian stood quietly in front of the emperor, without saying a word, bowing his head solemnly.

After a long time, Jingtai finally regained some composure, and was barely able to speak, but asked an inconsequential question: "Why you?" ”

When there is an urgent military report that needs to be submitted or handed over to the emperor for decision, it has always been the secretary of the military department to see him, but this time it was Wen Jinqian who sent him the battle report.

Wen Jinqian responded: "It was the minister's idea to take the initiative to run this trip." ”

The Zhongshu Order is high and powerful, and governs all civil and military affairs, and the six departments are all under it, and the military department receives major military information, and will ask for instructions before seeing the Zhongshu order, Wen Jinqian made his own opinion, and did not let the military department Shangshu go to Bing, but he forwarded this war report.

"If you don't let him come, are you afraid that I will kill him? You come for him, aren't you afraid that I will kill you? The cold in his heart, in his bones and blood, stained Jingtai's tone, and as he spoke, he began to tremble slightly again.

According to the emperor's past, when he heard such terrible news, he would definitely kill people to vent it, and the person who presented it to him was the first to bear it. Especially this time, it is almost bad news for the country, even if the military department is the top member of the court, I am afraid that it will not be able to escape the emperor's anger. Wen Jinqian replied truthfully: "The situation is urgent, the responsibilities of the military department are particularly important, there must be no more fluctuations, the minister is just a scholar... At this point, military power is far more important than other powers, so... It's me who comes. ”

His answer was tantamount to acquiescing in the brutality of Long Live.

Jingtai took a long breath and struggled to suppress the restlessness in his heart: "Tell me, what kind of person am I, and what kind of emperor am I?" ”

Wen Jinqian hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth to guard his duty, and said honestly: "Your Majesty is not a good person, but Your Majesty is not a faint monarch either. ”

"Not the faint king?" Jingtai coughed a few times, and his voice was hoarse: "Let countless soldiers die without a place to be buried, causing Dayan to be born and have a catastrophe, and now it is irresistible." Isn't this a faint king, you're too polite. ”

Wen Jinqian shook his head, first denied Jingtai's decadent words, and then pondered for a moment before slowly speaking: "Your Majesty has been on the throne for nearly thirty years, and the ministers have been officials for thirty years, and in this half of the world, the ministers can see all kinds of things about long live...... " Although the wording was passed, when he said this, he still closed his mouth, obviously having scruples and not daring to say it again.

Jingtai waved his hand weakly: "Say it, say anything and forgive you for being innocent, don't scruple, even if you scold me for being a faint king." ”

Wen Jinqian took a breath, and his voice was steady: "At the beginning of Your Majesty's accession to the throne, you reused the four important ministers left by the first emperor, seeking progress in stability, accumulating wealth and cultivating the foundation of the people; After the society was stable and the throne was stable, he first went to Chang Tingwei to clean his eyes and open his ears, and then disintegrated Tan Guide to collect military power, and then used thunder to get rid of Fu Qianxun and clear the biggest official party friends, and swept away the old style of the court; Then mobilize the people's will to forge ahead, and achieve an unprecedented prosperity since the opening of the Taizu Emperor, on the surface, Yan is still Yan, it seems that nothing has changed, but unconsciously, the national strength is far better than before, higher than the dog Rong, Uighur, Tubo countries, these are the merits of His Majesty. ”

"Before the arrival of the troubled times, Long Live broke the dispute between the king and the god in one fell swoop, and completely disintegrated the power of the Great Thunder Yintai, not only did not cause the slightest turmoil, but also made everyone return to their hearts, this alone is enough to prove that Your Majesty is eloquent, and how many emperors have been able to do this throughout the ages?"

"After the arrival of the troubled times, Dayan begged the dog to fight against Tan, conquered the south, broke the enemy Duping Nanyuan, and climbed the Tubo war to conquer the Uighurs to seize the plateau. That's why we're where we are today, because ...... Just because of luck, Your Majesty must not be presumptuous. ”

It is indeed a matter of luck, the life does not come early or late, but it breaks out in time when the Yan people want to compete for the world, if it is not so, the Yan people's southern expedition army will not be completely destroyed, and the Great Yan has more time and troops to be able to deploy calmly and steadily, how can it fall into such a field today.

Jingtai took a look: "I can let a minister say this in front of me, but I still listen to it with relish, isn't it the act of a faint king?" ”

Wen Jinqian's tirade is all accusing and commenting on the emperor's actions, although it is a compliment, it is still disrespectful, and these words cannot be said casually, let alone in front of the emperor?

If it weren't for Jingtai insisting that he say it, Wen Jinqian wouldn't dare to say it anyway.

Without waiting for Wen Jinqian to ask for forgiveness again, Jingtai shook his head, and then continued his topic: "Those things before the troubled times, what merits, what eloquence," the emperor suddenly laughed, laughed miserably, his expression was gloomy, and his eyes were gloomy: "You don't know... I didn't do any of those things... It's all his busyness, I don't have to worry about anything......"

Hearing this, Wen Jinqian raised his head sharply and glanced at the emperor with a stunned eye, but how dare he ask anything, he hurriedly wiped the horror from his face, and lowered his head again and dared not say anything.

Rinka was defeated, this blow was too heavy, and it directly plunged Dayan into a place of no return, so Jingtai lost his mind, completely ignoring the reaction of his henchmen, and muttered and continued: "In the past many years, there are only two major events that I have really presided over, one is that the five countries gather together to have a grand event... failed to win the championship, caused a mutiny, and the palace and the small half of the city were burned; The other is the recent war, fighting dogs, leveling Tan reverse, and breaking through Phoenix... What's the use of how smooth the front is, in the end, it's not a halberd and a sand sink... What is ruined in my hands this time is the inheritance of my ancestors... I used to kill people when I was angry, but in fact, the one who deserved to kill the most... It's just me. ”

With a miserable smile, Jingtai waved his hand and signaled that Wen Jinqian could go.

But Wen Jinqian didn't move, he didn't dare to continue the previous topic, so he changed other things, and didn't care whether the emperor wanted to hear it or not, he said it in one go: "The Shengfan army is gradually gathering, and the catastrophe is approaching the middle continent. The army that went to the plateau can no longer come back, and there is no hope of holding on to the army without soldiers. ”

Jingtai frowned, as if he didn't understand the minister's words, and asked in a deep voice: "Holy judgment? Break what? ”

"60,000 splendid langs have been summoned to arrive, and they are stationed in Jingnan at the moment, ready to be drawn at any time; When I came, I had already verified with the Ministry of War, and I was also able to transfer 20,000 people from the guards of Eye City and the surrounding Yamen army, a total of more than 80,000 elite troops, to follow His Majesty to the ends of the earth! ”

Wen Jinqian did not directly answer the emperor's question, but responded in a roundabout way.

Obviously, the reinforcements can't come back, Dayan is dead, and it won't be long before Zhonglu and Dongzhou will be destroyed in the catastrophe, and now the emperor is ready to flee.

In just a few months, the southern, western, and northern heavy troops have been destroyed, and the vitality of the Yan State has been greatly damaged, and it is no longer the powerful Eastern Empire that it used to be, but to describe it with a folk proverb, 'rotten ships also have three catties of nails', and now Jingtai still has soldiers in his hands, not to mention anything else, there are standing troops and horses in every state and city in the central and eastern territories, and if these people can be gathered, it is still a powerful force.

But the soldiers could not move. At this time, if the imperial court ordered the mobilization of the garrison, the people would see that the imperial court had abandoned them, and they were afraid that it would immediately provoke a popular uprising. Without waiting for the catastrophe to come, the people will become fierce people, the besieging army will besiege the state capital and then the imperial city, the army will be scattered and killed before it can be assembled, and the powerful people in the court will die in the riot before they can flee;

Looking at it from another angle, and not thinking about the civil uprising, assembling a large army means gathering a large number of baggage, countless grains and grasses, and with Dayan's current situation, there is no time to complete these preparations before the catastrophe arrives in the imperial city...... To put it bluntly, the permanent troops of the state capitals can only be used to resist Shengfan now, and Jingtai, the imperial court and the military department can only watch them being destroyed by Shengfan.

It is already the limit to be able to assemble this 80,000 army to follow and escort the emperor to escape.

"Run? Where to flee? This time, Jingtai understood Wen Jinqian's meaning: "Go north to the grassland?" There is also a plain, Shengfan swept the big swallow, and then he will rush to the grassland, I took you to flee north for three thousand miles, and when I looked back, I was still full of smiling, what a joke. Or, head west to the plateau? It looks good, I hate the highlands, at least for the time being, but you forget, the plateau is now the enemy's territory, the Nanban, the Uighurs, the soldiers, which is not our mortal enemy. ”

"I can almost imagine what it would be like to ascend to the plateau: immediately a siege. With Jin Xiulang, it is not difficult for us to win a few battles, but it is impossible to hold a place for everyone to cultivate and survive, so everyone will become water dogs, fleeing and trekking non-stop...... Tell me again, how long will the food and grass for these 80,000 people last? Three or five months or a year and a half? What about when we've eaten the last grain of food? ”

This is no longer the case. If Yan Neng won the Battle of Rinka, with the strength and scale of the two expeditionary forces, if they could not return to Yan to save the country in time, they would quickly establish a situation on the plateau, occupy rich land, plunder the money and grain of the feudal lords, and then 'captive' a large number of peasant households and ordinary people to cultivate animal husbandry, and completely achieve self-sufficiency.

That's why Jingtai will have the previous gamble, even if Yan Tu is lost, he can still go to the plateau. But now, the strong enemy won and the army was destroyed, Jingtai took tens of thousands of people to the plateau again, no matter who would let them go, the Yan people couldn't find a place to stay, how could there be a good end.

The emperor's words, Wen Jinqian was speechless.

Jingtai raised his head and looked at the eyes of his confidant minister steadily: "In the past, I had plans to go to the plateau, because even if the eastern land was reborn and looted, Dayan would not fall, and I could still create a new pattern, Yan was still there, more extensive and more majestic; Now...... Without a new bureau and a new world, when life comes, I will go to the city to supervise the battle...... As the master of Yan, he coexists and dies with Yan...... I'm not leaving. ”

Wen Jinqian wanted to persuade him again, but Jingtai didn't allow him to speak, and got up directly and left the imperial study.

The night wind was bleak, and the emperor began to fight non-stop again, and his steps became vain.

Stumbling all the way, Jingtai returned to the dormitory and drove out all the courtiers and maids, and even the little bugs were locked out by him. Extinguishing all the candles, Jingtai clasped his hands on his shoulders and his knees curled, and his whole body shrunk into a ball, trembling and crying in the deep darkness.

Since ascending the throne, the biggest bad news has come, but this time Jingtai did not kill people to vent his anger.

No one was implicated.